A file photo of Oliver Ivanovic in a courtroom in Kosovska Mitrovica (Tanjug)

Ivanovic's lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic has confirmed the news for Tanjug.

The Serb politician from northern Kosovo, who heads the SDP Civil Initiative, was charged with war crimes, found guilty on one count, and sentenced to nine years in prison.

Vlajic explained that the Court of Appeals today also confirmed the part of the verdict acquitting Ivanovic of the charges related to the crimes he allegedly committed in 2000.

The Basic Court in Kosovska Mitrovica will now decide whether to keep Ivanovic in prison.

Ivanovic was arrested on January 27, 2014. The trial against him ended in January 2016 with a guilty verdict passed on that count of the indictment covering war crimes committed in 1999, acquitting him on the second count.